The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

After breakfast, Chen Dong headed to the company with Li Huiran as usual.

For some unknown reason, Chen Dong felt an especially strong killing intent from Li Huiran today. He did his best to be careful and not provoke her.

When they reached the spot where Chen Dong usually got out, he was all set to leave. But Li Huiran didn’t slow down in the slightest; instead, she floored it and drove straight into the company parking lot.

Chen Dong got out and said, ”You’re the one who drove all the way here. If anyone sees us, it’s got nothing to do with me.” He was already deflecting any potential blame.

Li Huiran’s almond-shaped eyes widened slightly. With a cold snort, she strode ahead toward the company building. She got angry just looking at Chen Dong now. ’This man acts like a total scoundrel around me, but he’s a perfect gentleman in front of other women!’

Chen Dong, left standing there, just shrugged. ’Alright, then. Better not mess with her!’

He strolled over to the General Affairs Department. The moment Xu Qing saw him arrive, she immediately poured him a cup of hot water, acting just like a little secretary.

”Brother Dong, we were notified this morning that there’s a meeting!”

Chen Dong was speechless. The meetings never had anything to do with the General Affairs Department, yet they were still required to attend.

Conference Room 2.

Chen Dong and Wang Hao sat next to each other in seats at the very edge of the room. Even the manager of the cleaning department was seated rows ahead of them.

A sharp, capable-looking man in his thirties with short hair shot Chen Dong and Wang Hao a strange look.

He was Chen Dong and Wang Hao’s direct superior, Project Department Manager Xiaoye. He held dual master’s degrees in Market Economics and Economic Management and was Li Huiran’s right-hand man, personally promoted by her.

He was a diligent, hands-on pragmatist and had little fondness for these slacking princelings.

He also understood the importance of the General Affairs Department: to maintain the balance of power on the board. During the last general manager election, the seven directors backing the department had all cast their votes for Li Huiran.

He knew this group of troublemaking princelings all too well, but there was nothing he could do about them. An ordinary person wouldn’t last a day in the General Affairs Department.

They spent their days doing nothing, and every so often, they’d pick on someone just for fun. He had once tried to assign someone over there to get the department to do some actual work, but the person came back beaten and in tears in less than three days.

He walked over to Chen Dong and asked with a smile, ”Team Leader Chen, you’re looking well. How has work been these past few days?”

Xiaoye was puzzled. ’This Chen Dong doesn’t look like he’s been roughed up at all…’

’Since when were these princelings so easy to get along with?’

Chen Dong recognized Xiaoye and knew he was his superior. He smiled brightly and said, ”It’s been great. Brother Hao has been good to me, though he is a little strict.”

”Strict? I bet that means he beat you up!”

A sarcastic voice cut in from the side. The speaker had a somber face, thin lips, and long, narrow phoenix eyes.

Wang Hao whispered in Chen Dong’s ear, ”That’s the Vice President, Lu Chunqing. He and Sister Huiran are constantly at each other’s throats.”

Xiaoye had nothing to say to Lu Chunqing. He just smiled at Chen Dong and said, ”Hang in there. When I get the chance, I’ll ask President Li if I can get you transferred out.”

He had a pretty good impression of Chen Dong. With that, he returned to his seat.

Once Xiaoye was gone, Lu Chunqing sneered, ”The General Affairs Department? You actually have the nerve to attend a meeting? You do nothing all day but waste the company’s resources.” He then strolled away.

After they left, Wang Hao said with a displeased expression, ”That Lu Chunqing is a real piece of work. Ever since he lost the general manager position, he’s been doing nothing but trying to hold Sister Huiran back. He’s always looking for a chance to dissolve the General Affairs Department and kick us out of the company.”

”But it looks like Xiaoye can tell you’re a talented man, Brother Dong. He can’t bear to see you waste away in the General Affairs Department.”

Chen Dong just smiled, unconcerned.

Before long, everyone had arrived in the conference room.

A tall, slender figure strode into the conference room with an air of authority and took the seat at the head of the table. Her expression was calm, her gaze sharp. Who else could it be but Li Huiran?

Her brow furrowed slightly. ”Director Wu, the Finance Director, is he out again today?”

A woman in her forties, the manager of the finance department, stood up. Her name was Lu Chunhong, and she wore heavy, gaudy makeup and glasses.

”Reporting to the General Manager, Director Wu did not come in to work today!”

Li Huiran’s expression flickered, showing a hint of relief. Her father, Li Jianwen, had specifically told her to get in close contact with him, to invite him out for a private dinner to express her gratitude. She was actually glad he hadn’t shown up.

Composing herself, she said, ”Alright, I understand! Let’s officially begin today’s meeting!”

”I want to cover three points. First, for all ongoing projects, every department needs to be vigilant. I don’t want to see any mistakes, and I want you to pay particularly close attention to all safety issues!”

”Second, for completed projects, the final wrap-up must be handled properly. I expect full cooperation between all departments!”

”Third, all outstanding payments must be collected immediately. I want to see results, and I want to see them soon!”

”Now, I’ll have each department head report on their recent progress…”

The meeting proceeded in an orderly fashion. The General Affairs Department just listened in as always; they had nothing to report.

As the meeting was drawing to a close, Lu Chunhong, the finance department manager, stood up again.

She pushed up her glasses with a theatrical flair and said, ”President Li, we still haven’t been able to collect the final payment for the Taihe Garden project!”

Li Huiran’s delicate brows knitted together. ”What’s going on?”

She had personally overseen the Taihe Garden project.

Lu Chunhong tilted her head, looking at her sideways as she said, ”Team Leader Zheng, who’s in charge of the inspection, says there are problems with the project’s quality…”

The moment she said this, all eyes in the room turned to Li Huiran. Taihe Garden was a project she had been personally responsible for. If there was a problem with its quality, she would be unable to escape the blame.

Li Huiran shot to her feet and, with a loud SLAM, slapped her palm down on the table.

”I personally oversaw the quality control for that project. How could there be a problem?”

Lu Chunhong was startled and pursed her lips. Lu Chunqing stood up. ”General Manager Li, what’s the use of acting so aggressive here? This project is your responsibility. Instead of throwing your weight around, you should be figuring out how to solve the problem!”

”Besides, that inspection team leader is not someone we can afford to offend in this industry. Without his report, we won’t see a single cent of the final payment of over one hundred million.”

”If word gets out that we have quality issues, I’m afraid Qingtian International will have its project bidding qualifications revoked. All of our hard work will have been for nothing.”

At Lu Chunqing’s words, a grim expression fell over everyone in the conference room.

Xiaoye stood up and said, ”Vice President Lu, there’s no need for fear-mongering. Everyone here knows perfectly well about the quality of the Taihe Garden project. It’s obvious someone is playing dirty.”

Lu Chunqing snorted. ”So what if it’s a dirty trick? Whoever is responsible has to be the one to solve it! If the corporation goes under, none of us will benefit.”

Xiaoye’s face turned livid. ’If President Li goes down, you, Vice President Lu, have everything to gain.’

Li Huiran now understood. This was an overt plot aimed at her. Things weren’t that simple. Lu Chunqing was backed by the corporation’s second-largest shareholder, and it was clear he was still bitter about losing the election for general manager.

’To think he’d bring in outsiders to meddle in our internal power struggles. Damn him!’

Calming herself, she spoke. ”Rest assured, President Lu, I will handle this matter.”

Lu Chunqing sneered. ”President Li, Team Leader Zheng has given a deadline. It’s tomorrow.”

She looked at Lu Chunqing’s long, narrow eyes, which were as cold and sinister as a viper’s.

Li Huiran struggled to control her emotions. ’The siblings, Lu Chunhong and Lu Chunqing, waited until now to tell me. They’re clearly trying to make me mess up.’

She took a deep breath and said calmly, ”I understand. I will handle it immediately!”

She then turned to her secretary, Xiaoyu, and said, ”Schedule a meeting for me with Team Leader Zheng. For tonight!”

The meeting ended. After the meeting, in the Vice President’s office.

Lu Chunhong asked excitedly, ”Little brother! So, by holding back the news and only telling Li Huiran today, we can really take her down?”

Lu Chunqing, lounging in the executive chair with his legs crossed, said nonchalantly, ”Tomorrow’s headlines will be a scandal about Li Huiran: ’Prominent Corporation’s GM Seduces Inspector for Favorable Quality Report!’”

”But the board of directors will probably protect her if it’s just a scandal, right?”

Lu Chunqing narrowed his eyes and chuckled. ”Heh! And what if the quality report still doesn’t pass, leaving me as the only one who can step up and solve the problem?”

Lu Chunhong was so happy she practically danced. ”Little brother, you’re brilliant! What a move!”

”I thought when Wu Haichao showed up, he was here to keep us in check. Who knew that after his first day, he’d be absent all the time? He’s a total waste. They might as well toss him into the General Affairs Department instead of letting him waste a director’s position. But it’s for the best. It’s because he’s useless that we got this opportunity. The heavens are on our side.”